Great Is the Truth: Secrecy, Scandal, and the Quest for Justice at the Horace Mann School

Kamil’s book-length treatment of the sexual abuse scandal at an elite New York City prep school tells the story behind his 2012 New York Times Magazine feature on the topic, and reports on the tumultuous aftermath of the feature’s publication. Following the Sandusky calamity at Penn State University, and long after a close friend and classmate confided in Kamil that he had been raped by one of their revered Horace Mann teachers, Kamil uncovers other stories of similar sexual abuse at the school. The incidents occurred over 30-plus years dating back to 1960s. After the story breaks, more alumni come forward claiming abuse, and the victims band together to demand accountability from the prestigious institution. In all, former students implicate 22 teachers on 63 charges of abuse and claim negligence on the part of multiple administrations. On Facebook and in a support group held in N.Y.C., factions debate what justice should look like and how best to seek it, especially in a state with such a conservative statute of limitations. Finally confronted (in a meeting at the Harvard Club), the school’s board of trustees refuses to submit to a full-scale, independent investigation, and individual parties mediate meager settlements. It’s tedious reading, but the story runs hot for Kamil, who learns firsthand—and seemingly for the first time—that a powerful institution might value its reputation over its ethical obligations. The cast of characters is unwieldy, and pages of Horace Mann reveries, complete with clinking glasses of Scotch, don’t exactly welcome readers to the rarified world of the N.Y.C. prep school and its alumni. Agent: Todd Schuster, Zachary Schuster Harmsworth. (Nov.)